


Confessions (and other brave things)

by Timeskipped



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Fluff, Kaito is trying his best, Love Confessions, M/M, Stargazing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-05
Updated: 2019-09-05
Packaged: 2020-10-10 06:07:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20523203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Timeskipped/pseuds/Timeskipped
Summary: As he tries to gather himself, Kaito traces constellations with his eyes, ones he would point out to his sidekick if he wasn’t occupied with the fact the this is his shot to tell Shuichi the truth about his feelings. If he didn’t, Kaito would be a coward, and the Luminary of the Stars isn’t a coward. Not at all.





	Confessions (and other brave things)

Kaito chews on his lip as he leads Shuichi up the slight incline of the hill. They’d been there before, which is probably why Shuichi seems content, as far as Kaito can tell, with the silence that blankets them. The only sounds around them are from the wind waving through the grass, and bugs chirping. The night is cool, the perfect weather for stargazing.

Kaito looks up at the stars, hoping that doing that will give him some courage to confess his feelings. He’s going to get up there, into the universe, and he has to have courage for that, too. He knows that he’s going to have to speak soon, lest Shuichi sniff out the fact that Kaito, who was supposed to be so manly and heroic, is nervous instead.

Kaito stops biting his lip in favor of clenching his jaw. Shuichi would tell him that he didn’t have to hide anything, if he knew. So would Maki. But it was still easier, to pretend those feelings didn’t exist.

That was why it had taken so long for Kaito to accept that he could like Shuichi like that.

Without words, the two of them stop at the top of the hill. Kaito hears Shuichi’s breathing, slightly heavier than normal, despite all the training they’d done. He turns to his sidekick, fitting a grin over his face and pushing away his anxieties.

“It’s a perfect night for this, huh? No clouds at all!”

“Yeah,” Shuichi replies. He smiles back at Kaito, and even though it’s weaker than Kaito’s, it still makes his heart flutter. It’s stupid, how long Kaito had gone not realizing these feelings. “It’s much better than last time, at least.”

Shuichi sits himself down as he speaks, tilting his head to the sky. Kaito follows suit, laughing as he stretches out his legs on the grass.

“Yeah, it was a bad idea to come out here in the winter. Maki Roll got pretty angry, ha!”

Shuichi looks over at Kaito. His dark hair covers one of his eyes, from the angle that Kaito’s looking at him. “I don’t know how we didn’t get sick, actually.”

Kaito falls backwards, letting himself hit the ground. He doesn’t know what to say, but he knows that this conversation, while pleasant, even heartwarming, is just delaying the inevitable. There’s practically no way that Shuichi feels the same, but Kaito has to tell him, anyways.

“Ah, I’m also surprised you didn’t invite her…” Shuichi continues, and Kaito looks away from him. “That’s okay, though! I… I’m happy for it to be just us.”

The way he says it feels so romantic, and Kaito feels his face heat up. Shuichi lies down beside Kaito, in the corner of his vision. They’re lying next to each other, now, and Kaito banishes thoughts about holding Shuichi’s hand.

Kaito looks up at the stars above them. They shine back at him, steady as always against the dark sky. “Yeah, bro. I’m glad that we can stargaze. It’s always relaxing to me, you know!”

Kaito turns his head to Shuichi to smile at him, and meets Shuichi’s eyes for a moment.

“Mhm,” Shuichi nods as they lapse into a silence, studying the stars. Kaito feels as if Shuichi is waiting for something from him, like Shuichi can feel Kaito’s anxieties. Kaito looks away when he sees Shuichi glance back at him.

As he tries to gather himself, Kaito traces constellations with his eyes, ones he would point out to his sidekick if he wasn’t occupied with the fact the this is his shot to tell Shuichi the truth about his feelings. If he didn’t, Kaito would be a coward, and the Luminary of the Stars isn’t a coward. Not at all.

Kaito hears Shuichi shift, next to him, and he swallows the nerves still sitting in his chest.

Instead of just blurting out everything his wants to say, though, he takes another moment to focus on the stars glittering above his head, the vast expanse that reminds him that he has places to go.

“You know,” he starts, slowly, “you’ve come a long way. I’m proud of you, Shuichi.”

Shuichi makes a noise of acknowledgement. Kaito keeps going on that train of thought, because this whole thing is, he supposes, about being honest.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but, I’m kind of jealous of you. I mean, I’m supposed to be the one going to new heights, and yet you’re the one always going further than before.”

“Kaito,” Shuichi says, “you’re amazing. You’ve always been dragging me along and helping me improve. You… don’t need to be jealous.” Shuichi moves again, and when he turns his head, Kaito feels his breath against his cheek from how close he is. It makes his heart swell in his chest, and it’s something terrifying and lovely at the same time.

“Nah, I do. I mean, who wouldn’t want someone like you as a sidekick?” Kaito raises his arms into the air, cold fingers curled into fists, for just a moment, before he lets gravity bring it down again to thump against the ground. “I’m just tryin’ to say, you have a lot more figured out than me. And don’t tell me that I’m wrong because… I’ve- uh.” Kaito pauses, lets his palms lie flat against the ground and fingers spread out, feeling the cold grass. “I’ve been trying to figure myself out this whole time,” he says, quieter, after a moment’s hesitation.

“I already know that, though. I told you already that you can talk to me, right?” Kaito finally looks away from the sky, looking over to the side, where Shuichi’s looking back at him. His eyes are usually a pale grey, but they look dark now, without much light. “You can talk to me, Kaito,” Shuichi repeats, looking straight into his eyes.

Kaito feels his face get hot, and he looks back to the sky. It dawns on him, at that moment, that this whole thing is so romantic. A proper date, maybe, except that they did this even before Kaito realized his feelings.

“Yeah. Yeah, I know,” Kaito says. “You and Maki Roll both told me that. I was trying so hard to be a hero, and I was trying so hard to get to the universe as fast as I could, but I never stopped to think about myself.”

He grins, and then he jolts a little as Shuichi rests a hand on his arm.

“I- uh,” Kaito stumbles over his next words, “You mean a lot to me, okay? You make me want to stay here.” He takes the arm that isn’t glued the the grass by just Shuichi’s touch and he lifts it to the sky. “I’ll get to space someday, but for now, just being here is enough. You know what that means, don’t you?”

Shuichi sucks in a quiet breath. Kaito knows, of course, that even if he says anything, Shuichi probably won’t feel the same. But he pushes forwards anyway, because that’s what he promised himself he’d do. He’d face his feelings like a real man.

“Maybe I shouldn’t say this,” he mutters to himself, anyways, if only to reassure Shuichi that he was considering not saying anything when it blows up in his face. He keeps looking up at the stars, despite it all. His stomach is twisting from the nerves of what he’s about to blurt out, and his face is still burning.

“I don’t care what you’ll say,” Shuichi speaks, after a pause that even Kaito can admit is too long. “I’ll listen. Whatever it is… it can’t ruin our friendship, right?“

Kaito can’t look at him.

“Hopefully, yeah,” Kaito steels himself. “I brought you out here to tell you, actually. I can’t back down now, that would be cowardly!” His hands curl into fists again, this time resting against the ground. “Shuichi, I have feelings for you! I’m, I-”

He swallows, cutting himself off before he can continue. He feels as if he’d choke on his own words if he tried, so it’s for the better that he doesn’t speak.

It’s out there, anyway. He feels his pulse rushing. The ball is in Shuichi’s court.

“Y-you…” Kaito can’t tell what Shuichi’s thinking from just that stuttered word, so he looks at him, finally.

Shuichi’s eyes are wide, but he doesn’t look upset. More than anything, he looks shocked.

“I- uh, I’m sorry, this isn’t bad, I promise, but give me a moment to p-process this.” Despite his sidekick’s words, Kaito feels more nervous than ever. Shuichi’s face is steadily reddening, and he brings his hands to cover it, removing the one that had continued to touch Kaito’s arm. Kaito sucks in some air between his teeth.

“Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault,” Kaito says, softly. Shuichi’s eyes peek from behind his fingers after Kaito says that. “I’m the one who said something weird, alright?”

Kaito brings his own hand up to rub at his face, though it’s mostly to avoid Shuichi’s eyes. When he looks upwards, the stars twinkle at him. The grass ruffles as Shuichi sits up, and when Kaito glances over, he’s stopped hiding his face. His blush is still there, though, and Kaito goes to sit up as well.

“No,” Shuichi says. “It, it wasn’t weird. I was just caught off guard.” Shuichi takes a deep breath, and Kaito watches him hug his knees. For a moment, Kaito fears the worst, but then he notices Shuichi's small smile. “I like you too, Kaito.”

Just like that, the vice grip that Kaito’s anxieties have on him loosen. He sits in silence with Shuichi for a minute, searching for words to show how happy he feels, but just ends up laughing, instead. Shuichi’s softer laughs follow soon after.

“I thought you’d reject me,” Kaito says. “I really thought you’d tell me that you didn’t-” Kaito laughs again, slightly delirious in the night air. “You’re too nice to stop being friends with me, but…”

Shuichi smiles at Kaito, and Kaito thinks he can see the stars reflected in his grey eyes. He’s not hiding behind his hair like he used to when the hat first came off. “I thought you were straight,” he says. “I’m glad I was wrong, though.”

“I told myself I was, too,” Kaito reaches up to rub the back of his neck. “I kinda decided to tell you on a whim, once I finally got it together.”

Shuichi reaches up and smooths out his black hair with pale fingers. “I don’t know if I ever would have confessed so… Thank you. For that.”

Kaito leans his head on Shuichi’s shoulder in a moment of boldness and relief. His face still feels warm, and it’s as though he just came down from an adrenaline high. “Of course I would, for my sidekick!”

Kaito feels his heart swell once again.

“One question,” Shuichi says, after a moment, “does… does this count as a date?”

“Yeah,” Kaito says. “If you want it to be.”

The wind ruffles the grass, and Kaito closes his eyes. The expanse of space and stars above them is silent, and Kaito feels more peaceful with everything out in the open.

“Yes,” Shuichi replies softly, smile evident in his voice. “I’d like that.”


End file.
